Chapter 54
“You look like someone desperate for work.”
“It feels uncomfortable doing nothing. Especially in a room this nice.”
Marsha felt as though she had sneaked into someone else’s house.
As if it wouldn’t be strange at all if she were thrown out at any moment.
“Don’t worry too much. Before long, you’ll be so busy you’ll resent not having rested when you could.”
Claudio turned to leave, and Marsha called after his back.
“Busy with what?”
“I’ll tell you once you’ve had some sleep.”
He tilted his head slightly and gave a crooked smile.
“Make sure to dream of something nice. I won’t be able to come running if you cry in your sleep again.”
Marsha’s face burned red.
Clenching her small fists, she stammered in protest.
“I told you, I don’t normally do that! That was the first time…!”
“Ah, I see. I believe you.”
With that teasing smile, Claudio slipped out of the room.
Marsha wrinkled her nose.
Honestly, he’s always like that.
Did he never get tired of being infuriated every single time?
But really… How am I supposed to rest here?
She looked around.
The room was just as fine as the one she had once lived in as Lady Emelide’s daughter.
Why had the Duke given her such a chamber?
Because there are more rooms than he knows what to do with?
Or because he was grateful I saved his man?
If he were truly such a generous person, Claudio would never have recovered at her house in the first place.
And certainly, he would not have brought her back with him.
Just what kind of man is this Duke, anyway?
The more she thought about him, the more he seemed like a puzzle that only deepened into a labyrinth.
“Ugh. I don’t know…”
Marsha lay down on the bed.
It was soft—too soft.
So soft that she found it uncomfortable.
The hard-packed earth might have been easier to rest on.
But she had barely slept these past days, and hours in the saddle had left her body aching with fatigue.
Finally giving up on resisting the heaviness pulling down her eyelids, Marsha surrendered herself to the deep, enveloping world of dreams.
She slept like someone knocked senseless.
Perhaps her body already knew the hardship that awaited her.
***
Claudio sat at his desk in the study for the first time in a long while.
His “vacation” was vacation in name only—it simply meant tending to the distant estate while continuing to shoulder the burdens of administration.
Urian, watching him with a mixture of pity and admiration, thought to himself,
People imagine the Duke spends his days hunting with knights, or drowning in wine and pleasure.
But no matter where he goes, he’s always working.
Even the wolf hunt—it’s for culling the numbers, to keep the villagers safe.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered.
Sensing Urian ’s gaze, Claudio lifted his head.
“Something on my face?”
“N-no, sir. Only… I wondered if you should be working right after returning. After all the riding, surely your wound must have been strained…”
“The wound healed long ago.”
“Already?”
He still felt the occasional sharp sting when he overexerted himself, but it wasn’t anything that hindered daily life.
The speed of his recovery owed partly to his unusual constitution—but more than anything, to Marsha’s relentless care.
She worried more over my wound than I did myself.
A quiet chuckle escaped Claudio’s lips.
But it wasn’t because it was me, was it?
That girl, who tried so hard to be sharp and cold, yet could never quite hide her gentleness—she would have done the same for anyone she found in that state, even if it hadn’t been Claudio.
“….”
But the instant he pictured Marsha tending another man’s injuries with those same hands, Claudio’s expression froze into ice.
Why… Why does he look like that now?
Urian tensed, unsettled by his master’s shifting moods.
Still, he had come here for a reason.
“Your Grace, about inviting the merchants…”
While Claudio had been away, Urian had handled most matters, but this one he dared not finalize.
It might have gone unnoticed, but he feared rumors of the Duke’s absence would slip through the merchants’ lips.
“What shall we do?”
“Hm.”
Claudio would rather not admit outsiders into the villa.
Normally, it wouldn’t matter, but now… Marsha was here.
Yet he couldn’t simply ignore the merchants who had gathered in hopes of the Duke’s favor.
“Open the villa tomorrow. From early morning until sundown, I’ll receive them.”
Normally, only a few would be granted an audience.
But this would be a reward for the merchants who had waited anxiously for the villa’s doors to open again.
“Understood.”
Urian gave a relieved smile and prepared to leave.
Just then—
“There’s something I’ll need you to investigate. Quietly.”
Quietly?
Urian’s round eyes sharpened in an instant.
“What is it?”
“We need to dig into a murder case from four years ago.”
At the unexpected order, Urian ’s mouth slowly dropped open.
A murder case?
Out of nowhere?
Don’t tell me… “Does it have something to do with Miss Marsha?”
“I heard her father was murdered, and she’s been searching for the culprit.”
Urian’s eyes widened so much they nearly popped from their sockets, while Claudio remained as composed as ever.
“I didn’t hear the details.”
Being the excessively dutiful woman she was, it was obvious Marsha intended to handle what Claudio had asked of her first before speaking of her own affairs.
Or… is it still too difficult for her to tell me everything?
Rolling his tongue slowly inside his mouth, Claudio muttered in a low voice.
“I hate waiting. I’ll find out right away.”
He had no intention of cornering Marsha.
Even if she chose not to speak, the events of four years ago were something he could dig up on his own.
“Start with Count Emelide’s lands and Viscount Shovid’s territory.”
“Yes, sir.”
Having received his answer, Claudio expected Urian to leave.
But the man still stood there.
“What is it?”
“Well… the thing is…”
After a moment of hesitation, Urian summoned his courage.
“How long do you plan on hiding your identity from Miss Marsha? If you truly mean to take her as your partner, shouldn’t you reveal yourself by now? No—shouldn’t you reveal yourself?”
“……”
Claudio had thought the same himself.
But if he spoke the truth now, Marsha would surely begin to fear him.
She would never again show him that sulky little face.
Everything they had built so far might vanish like foam on water in an instant.
Ridiculous as it was, Claudio found himself hesitating.
“…I’ll handle it.”
“My apologies, I overstepped.”
Looking awkward, Urian bowed out.
Claudio turned back to his documents, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t focus.
***
At the northern edge of Delrua stood the grandest church in Stravien.
Towering as large as any fortress, it contained more than five vast sanctuaries.
And at its deepest heart lay a prayer chamber so immense, it felt too grand to call it a simple room.
Open day and night to all, commoner and noble alike, this space now held a lone figure kneeling in fervent prayer—a woman veiled in white that contrasted starkly with her black hair.
Beatrice.
“Please, watch over the Duke, and let him return safely.”
Her knees ached from so long kneeling, her focus wavered, yet still her heart burned only with Claudio’s safety.
“He is everything to me… everything to this country.”
Her clasped hands trembled violently, and beneath her lavish lashes, tears glittered like gems as they spilled down her cheeks.
Then came the click of approaching shoes.
“Beatrice.”
The familiar voice called her name.
Eyes still damp, she first looked quickly around her.
“…It’s been a long time, Petrix.”
Finding no one else nearby, Beatrice gave a small smile.
“How did you know I was here?”
“There’s nothing about you I don’t know.”
With a bitter smile, Petrix extended his hand.
Beatrice took it and tried carefully to rise…
“Ah!”
She faltered, and he caught her swiftly around the waist.
“Are you all right?!”
“Y-yes… I think I knelt for too long…”
“Foolish woman. What’s so great about that detestable man that you—”
Her eyes snapped wide, fury flashing in her dark irises beneath gleaming whites.
“What did you just say?”
